Sale Sharks' farewell to Edgeley Park
Today was Sale Sharks' last game at Edgeley Park. 10 149 fans watched the clash with table leaders - Harlequins. From the very first minutes of the match, it was clear that the hosts are well motivated. They showed a lot of spirit and even managed to cross the rivals' try line in the initial stage of the game, unfortunately the try was not awarded. During the first half of the game the more experienced visitors took the lead. They were leading 3:15 at half time. At the beginning of the second half, Sharks took advantage of playing with one extra man (Nick Evans was sin-binned), and Will Addison scored a fantastic try - in my opinion one of the most spectacular tries in this year’s Aviva Premiership season. Despite the efforts, Sale couldn't break Harlequins' solid defense and visitors took a deserved win 10:24.
All spectators were certainly happy with Sale Sharks' performance today. Especially after hearing the news from the Welford Road where Leicester Tigers comfortably beat Bath. This means that Sale finished the season at the 6th place so Heineken Cup is back in Manchester. Next season games will be played at the new stadium - especially designed for rugby, so I’m very pleased that in addition to the league games we will also be able to see European elite there.
I had the opportunity to watch many games at Edgeley Park, so as the farewell to the stadium I've picked a handful of statistics and I've chosen three the most unforgettable memories to me.
Sale Sharks played 141 matches - won 97, drew 4 and lost 40. They scored 3646 points, and conceded 2339. Over 1 100 000 tickets have been sold until today. The record point scorer is Charlie Hodgson - 1031, Mark Cueto scored 88 tries.
1. Jason Robinson's farewell match against Bath. The last seconds of the match, after amazing run through almost half the pitch, Robinson scored the winning try, setting the match result at 25:23.
2. 2009 Heineken Cup game, after a dramatic match Sharks defeated Cardiff Blues 27:26.
3. Big surprise at the beginning of the 2009 season - a victory over the champions Leicester Tigers 15:12. Before the match bookmakers were predicting big win for the visitors, by 40-50 points’ difference.
Below are some photos from today's game:
All spectators were certainly happy with Sale Sharks' performance today. Especially after hearing the news from the Welford Road where Leicester Tigers comfortably beat Bath. This means that Sale finished the season at the 6th place so Heineken Cup is back in Manchester. Next season games will be played at the new stadium - especially designed for rugby, so I’m very pleased that in addition to the league games we will also be able to see European elite there.
I had the opportunity to watch many games at Edgeley Park, so as the farewell to the stadium I've picked a handful of statistics and I've chosen three the most unforgettable memories to me.
Sale Sharks played 141 matches - won 97, drew 4 and lost 40. They scored 3646 points, and conceded 2339. Over 1 100 000 tickets have been sold until today. The record point scorer is Charlie Hodgson - 1031, Mark Cueto scored 88 tries.
1. Jason Robinson's farewell match against Bath. The last seconds of the match, after amazing run through almost half the pitch, Robinson scored the winning try, setting the match result at 25:23.
2. 2009 Heineken Cup game, after a dramatic match Sharks defeated Cardiff Blues 27:26.
3. Big surprise at the beginning of the 2009 season - a victory over the champions Leicester Tigers 15:12. Before the match bookmakers were predicting big win for the visitors, by 40-50 points’ difference.
Below are some photos from today's game:
BYU RUGBY 2012: THE KINGDOM
The 2012 season of BYU Rugby is upon us ... and though Our Boys, our beloved Cougars, are already administering justice upon the opposition (defeating Central Washington yesterday, 76-7), nevertheless this season represents the beginning of an era, even a new reign of dominance not to be ignored. With the ever-lauded Golden Bears of Cal-Berkeley voluntarily stepping down and out of D-1A college rugby, and inevitably relinquishing the throne to BYU, the Kingdom is come ... the Reign of BYU Rugby is at hand!!!
Okay mates, all sacrilege aside and whatever Cal's reasons for leaving, you've got to admit that we're witnessing the advent of a new BYU Rugby dynasty. In the immediate short term, the Golden Bears dodge the bullet of having to attempt to win another National Title in BYU's backyard against an obviously-loaded Cougar squad. But in the longer term, where do they go? Fifteen players-a-side is Cal's bread and butter, so ... what's next for the grizzly long hairs from the Bay Area??
Here's a hint: No more designation as 'National Champions' or as the 'Premier College Rugby Team of America'. That title now belongs to BYU by default, and I would submit that it will remain there for a good, long time. Never mind that Cal didn't put up a fight ... shoot, they didn't even raise up the white flag! It's like they snuck off with the kids and the car in the dead of night without so much as leaving a note!!
Uhhh ... well ... okay then ... good riddance!! I guess we'll be forced to inherit the mansion and family fortune!!!
Okay mates, all sacrilege aside and whatever Cal's reasons for leaving, you've got to admit that we're witnessing the advent of a new BYU Rugby dynasty. In the immediate short term, the Golden Bears dodge the bullet of having to attempt to win another National Title in BYU's backyard against an obviously-loaded Cougar squad. But in the longer term, where do they go? Fifteen players-a-side is Cal's bread and butter, so ... what's next for the grizzly long hairs from the Bay Area??
Here's a hint: No more designation as 'National Champions' or as the 'Premier College Rugby Team of America'. That title now belongs to BYU by default, and I would submit that it will remain there for a good, long time. Never mind that Cal didn't put up a fight ... shoot, they didn't even raise up the white flag! It's like they snuck off with the kids and the car in the dead of night without so much as leaving a note!!
Uhhh ... well ... okay then ... good riddance!! I guess we'll be forced to inherit the mansion and family fortune!!!
Hypocrisy Goes to the Movies
For a person who always strives to be consistent in character, committing an act of treason against one's moral code results in a truly unpleasant sense of dissonance. Unfortunately, even the painful sting of hypocrisy isn't enough to detract from how absolutely wonderful it feels to sit in the giant, reclining, movie-theater seats at the adults-only AMC Cinema Suites.
As a parent, I have always been vocally opposed to child-free spaces. In my opinion, children should be welcome anywhere their parents deem appropriate for them to be.
In the interest of clarity, this doesn't mean that I believe they should get away with ruining expensive meals out by screaming in a fancy restaurant, disrupting movies with their loud questions, throwing things, or otherwise creating a disturbance for other patrons. I am categorically intolerant of conduct like that.
As a matter of fact, my children have attended movies with me since they were days old, and I would never allow them to behave in a way that would hamper my enjoyment of the film, let alone the enjoyment of others sitting several rows away. The same goes for dining out. Instead of banning an entire group of individuals based on age alone, I would love to see all theaters, restaurants, and other venues enforce strict standards of behavior for children and other customers.
More than simply holding this opinion in my own mind, I have often said that I would never support a business that voluntarily chose to exclude children when they could just as easily boot out ill-behaved people of all ages. It makes me incredibly uncomfortable to admit that I was true to that vow until AMC Theatres opened a Cinema Suites close to home. While I was excited to attend the kid-friendly, food-serving Fork & Screen branch of the same company, friends reported back to me about the large, cushy recliners and the better meal selections in their Cinema Suites. It wasn't long before I caved.
A movie theater with seats that are conducive to snuggling that that provide all the comforts of home is something I've dreamed of since college. I can, quite clearly, remember sitting in a New York theater with my boyfriend-at-the-time, declaring that the armrests should be movable and the seats should be more like sofas. A dozen years later, they are! The only problem is the niggling discomfort that goes along with the hypocrisy of sitting there.
I admit it: this girl, who earned her reputation for being almost fanatically consistent in her values, has fallen from grace in a big way. I don't feel good about what I've done, though, so if you want to track me down and chastise me for my duplicitous deeds, you know where to find me. On Thursday nights, seat E8 has my name on it. You'll recognize me by the bag of shame over my head.
As a parent, I have always been vocally opposed to child-free spaces. In my opinion, children should be welcome anywhere their parents deem appropriate for them to be.
In the interest of clarity, this doesn't mean that I believe they should get away with ruining expensive meals out by screaming in a fancy restaurant, disrupting movies with their loud questions, throwing things, or otherwise creating a disturbance for other patrons. I am categorically intolerant of conduct like that.
As a matter of fact, my children have attended movies with me since they were days old, and I would never allow them to behave in a way that would hamper my enjoyment of the film, let alone the enjoyment of others sitting several rows away. The same goes for dining out. Instead of banning an entire group of individuals based on age alone, I would love to see all theaters, restaurants, and other venues enforce strict standards of behavior for children and other customers.
More than simply holding this opinion in my own mind, I have often said that I would never support a business that voluntarily chose to exclude children when they could just as easily boot out ill-behaved people of all ages. It makes me incredibly uncomfortable to admit that I was true to that vow until AMC Theatres opened a Cinema Suites close to home. While I was excited to attend the kid-friendly, food-serving Fork & Screen branch of the same company, friends reported back to me about the large, cushy recliners and the better meal selections in their Cinema Suites. It wasn't long before I caved.
A movie theater with seats that are conducive to snuggling that that provide all the comforts of home is something I've dreamed of since college. I can, quite clearly, remember sitting in a New York theater with my boyfriend-at-the-time, declaring that the armrests should be movable and the seats should be more like sofas. A dozen years later, they are! The only problem is the niggling discomfort that goes along with the hypocrisy of sitting there.
I admit it: this girl, who earned her reputation for being almost fanatically consistent in her values, has fallen from grace in a big way. I don't feel good about what I've done, though, so if you want to track me down and chastise me for my duplicitous deeds, you know where to find me. On Thursday nights, seat E8 has my name on it. You'll recognize me by the bag of shame over my head.
Enjoying for the sake of enjoyment
New Year always brings the much cherished feeling of being enjoyed for the sake of enjoyment. So this year won’t be any different for me either.
Last year I and one of my only friends, for that instant on the very eve of New Year have discovered this intangible feeling of being enjoyed for the sake of enjoyment. We were having a coffee at the stroke of the midnight in an open shelter coffee shop with a relenting gloom hovered over us for being stranded ourselves from the mass while attending numerous calls from all over the world wishing us a happy New Year, someone among these numerous callers asked how are we enjoying the moment and I very involuntarily replied that, “We are enjoying for the sake of enjoying.”.
Today, I miss that moment and my friend of that instant.
New Year gives us an opportunity for resolution to metamorphose our unwillingness to willingness, insanity to sanity, foes to pals, dreams to reality and finally “Gloom to Glitter”.
I wish you and all a Very Happy New Year.
God bless you all…………………
Last year I and one of my only friends, for that instant on the very eve of New Year have discovered this intangible feeling of being enjoyed for the sake of enjoyment. We were having a coffee at the stroke of the midnight in an open shelter coffee shop with a relenting gloom hovered over us for being stranded ourselves from the mass while attending numerous calls from all over the world wishing us a happy New Year, someone among these numerous callers asked how are we enjoying the moment and I very involuntarily replied that, “We are enjoying for the sake of enjoying.”.
Today, I miss that moment and my friend of that instant.
New Year gives us an opportunity for resolution to metamorphose our unwillingness to willingness, insanity to sanity, foes to pals, dreams to reality and finally “Gloom to Glitter”.
I wish you and all a Very Happy New Year.
God bless you all…………………